Helping a student with a $1500 build. Can you look it over?

killworthy · Jun 1, 2016

After showing a student a build I made last year, he wants to build his own. He has a budget and brought me a part list. Could you look it over for him? Budget has to include everything. He said they he would use this to run a large TV and have a secondary monitor for gaming. All suggestions welcome.

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/9NCbtJ

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($297.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock H170A-X1/3.1 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($83.89 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: *Crucial 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($103.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital WD VelociRaptor 1TB 2.5" 10000RPM Internal Hard Drive ($250.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: *EVGA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Sceptre E248W-1920 24.0" 60Hz Monitor ($108.69 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($18.99 @ Newegg)
Headphones: Logitech G230 Headset ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1476.19

BadActor · Jun 1, 2016

Is this mostly for gaming and general use or something more CPU intensive? If mainly for gaming, no need for 32 GB's of RAM or the i7. The HDD will be slower than an SSD and costs more. The GTX 1070 would be a good match for a 144 HZ monitor.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI B150M Pro-VD Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($64.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY CS1311 960GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($53.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($54.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 24.0" 144Hz Monitor ($248.00 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Cooler Master CM Storm Devastator Gaming Bundle Wired Gaming Keyboard w/Optical Mouse ($28.99 @ Amazon)
Headphones: Logitech G230 Headset ($44.99 @ Amazon)
Other: GTX 1070 ($379.99)
Total: $1432.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-01 18:28 EDT-0400

TurkeyDinner · Jun 1, 2016

You could save a few bucks if you got windows 7 and upgraded to windows 10 but you would have to do it before July 29. They stop allowing the updates July 29.

ikaz · Jun 1, 2016

Bad Actor's build is a good one as he stated i7 and 32 BD of memory not needed for gaming unless he's big into video editing. Though for storage if you need more you could got with a 240-500g GB ssd for about $100 and pick up a 2-4 TB drive for another for about $100 as well.

g-unit1111 · Jun 1, 2016

Well there's a few things I would change. That monitor is junk. 32GB of RAM is unnecessary for gaming (and for most tasks that aren't photo / video editing / CAD), and I would switch out the storage for an SSD / HD combo (WD Velociraptor drives are a waste of money), and I would lose that PSU.

This is what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($338.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($58.02 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($150.99 @ NCIX US)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($69.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.30 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.89 @ OutletPC)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($61.59 @ NZXT)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.99 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($83.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VE247H 23.6" Monitor ($119.99 @ Micro Center)
Other: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 ($396.99)
Total: $1510.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-01 19:32 EDT-0400

That will be a much wiser use of $1500 and then you can add whatever keyboard and mouse you want. I generally don't include peripherals because that's mostly a personal preference thing.

ikaz · Jun 2, 2016

Side note if your not planning to build until next month you may want to wait for AMD RX480 review it could save your about $180 on the suggested build if you will be gaming at only 1080p (though if you plan on getting a monitor that can do 120Hz it could be worth spending the extra $$ for the 1070).

Zahid Shabir · Jun 8, 2016

why would you go for 32 GB ram on a 6700 not even the K edition here is my own build i am making the parts are more price worthy
here look at this (http://pcpartpicker.com/list/8LzrxY) you can tweak it a little bit to get the price down and go for the 850 Pro 1TB vs 2TB like i did and look for these parts on Ebay some people sell some things real cheap stupidly cheap at times you could save like $400 on these parts but there can be fakes so to combat that just complain if you get a fake or broken item to get a full refund

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Helping a student with a $1500 build. Can you look it over?

killworthy

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TurkeyDinner

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ikaz

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ikaz

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Zahid Shabir

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